Extension table slide assembly



Jan. 28, 1947. R LOWE 2,414,959

EXTENSION TABLE SLIDE ASSEMBLY I Filed March 22, 1944 |l+suos OPENA SDLIDE CLOSE INVENTOR.

ADC/lard A, lowe BY 4 I ATTORNEY;

Patented Jan. 28, 1 947 EXTENSION TABLE SLIDE ASSEMBLY Richard R. Lowe, San Francisco, Calif., assignor to Beatrice Minnie Lowe, Ruth Marie Jacobs, Clifford Osborne Lowe, Hazel Adelaide Berg, and himself, as joint tenants Application March 22, 1944, Serial No. 527,587

(Cl. 3I1+71i 5 Claims.

The. present invention relates to improvements in an extension table slide assembly, and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

An object. of my invention is to provide an extension table slide assembly which is extremely simple in constructionin thatthe central mem-- her is made up of. twoidenticalparts and the tongues are also identical in construction. The device can be assembled and the tongues secured against removal from the central member by the mere spot-welding'or otherwise securing the parts of the central member together after the tongues have been placed in position in the channels provided in the central member. The tongues in turn, carry rails which are secured to the two table top: sections.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which the tongues have a greater portion of their lengths. received in the channels of the central member when the slide is open than when the slide is closed, Twoslide assemblies are used in connection with the fixed table frame on which the table top sections rest and each assembly is secured to a side rail of the table frame. When the table tops are extended or opened, a smaller portion of their under-surfaces will contact with the table frame, When any weight is placed upon the ends of the table top sections thatproject beyond the frame ends, there is a tendency for the inner section ends to swing upwardly since the ends of the frame will constitute fulcrum points. My slide assemblies have greater portions of the tongues received in, the channels when the table tops are open than when they are closed and therefore the channels will hold the tongues against upward movement and will prevent this tendency of the table top sections to fulcrum. V

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which the coacting stops between the channels and the tongues perform the additional function of acting as spacing'members to prevent any lateral movement between the tongues and the channels. The tongues are reinforced by longitudinally extending ribs and these ribs perform the additional function of providing recesses for the screw heads that hold the table top rails to the tongues and spacing the table top rails laterally from the sides of the central member a slight distance to prevent any frictional contact between the two during the movement of the slides.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, inwhieh:

Figure 1 is a perspective view in full lines of a Urshaped member forming half of the tongue supporting member, and shows the other U- shaped member in broken lines;

Figure 2 is tongues;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the entire slide showing it operatively applied to two table top sections;

Figure/i is a transverse sectiontaken along the a perspective View of one of the line 4+6 of Figure 3, showing the parts on a larger scale; and

Figure 5 is a schematic view showing two side elevations of slide assemblies in closed and ened p sit ons. a

While I'have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventien, i

I In carrying out my invention 1 will first describe thecohstruction of the slide assembly and then will shcw how it is applied to a fixed table frame-and to two table top sections. The slide is composed of a cent-ral tongue supporting mem ber indicatedgenerally at A and two tongues, one of-them being shown at B in- Figure 2. The sentral tongue supporting member A is formed of twoidenticalU-shaped members! and 2. The

member I has a central Web 3 with sides 4 and 5. The side 4 has a channel 6 formed therein while the side 5 has a channel 1 formed there in; A stop 8 is placed at one end of the side 4 dndwiS positioned on the outer surface of this sid.., The side 5 has a stop 9 placed on its outer surface it will be seen from Figure 1 that the stop 9 is disposed at oneend Of he tongue supporting member while the stop 8 is disposed at the other end. i V

The U-shaped member 2 is similar in construc-. tion to the'member I and has channels I0 and H acin e c a n s 6 an es ct ely- A ide I 2 of the member 2 has a stop I3 placed on its outersur-face and the stop is positioned at the op- DQ iteend of the tongue supporting member A from that of the stop 8. A side I4 of the member 2 has a stop 15- placed on its, outer side and dis- Posed d a nally opposite the stop 9.

In the actual construction of the tongue supporting member A, the members I and 2 are made identical to each other and then the web 3 01 the member I is placed over the web It of the member 2 and this will cause the channels 6 and ID to form a guide for one tongue B and the channels 1 and ll to form a guide for another tongue. The tongues are placed in the channels before the webs 3 and iii are permanently secured to each other by spot welding or other suitable fastening means.

I show a tongue B in Figure 2 and this tongue has side portions or runners H and I8 slidably received in channels 6 and ID or 7 and II. A longitudinal rib portion l9 interconnects the side portions l! and I8 and this rib reinforces the tongue and also performs anadditional function which will be hereinafter described. The side portion ll has an elongated stop 20 that cooperates with the stop 8 when the tongue is placed in the channels and IS. The side portion 18 has an elongated stop 2| that cooperates with the stop l3. It will be noted that the stop 20 extends beyond the center line a of the tongue and the stop 2| stops short of the center line. It will further be noted that the inner end of the stop 20 overlaps the inner end of the stop 2| a slight distance.

Reference to Figure 3 shows the central tongue supporting member A resting on a side rail 22 of a fixed table frame. Figure 4 illustrates how the side rail 22 has a recess 23 cut therein for receiving the webs 3 and I6 of the tongue supporting member A. The tongue B is shown placed in the channels 6 and In while a tongue B similar to the tongue B is slidably received in the channels I and ll. The sides 12 and M of the member 2 straddle the sides of the rail frame 22. The tongues B and B are placed in the channels before the webs 3 and I6 are permanently secured together by spot-welding or the like. vents the tongues from being entirely removed from the tongue supporting member although the tongues may slide into either one of two extreme positions. I show screws 24 for securing the central member A to the side rail 22.

The tongues B and B carry table top rails C and C, see Figure 4. The rail C is secured to the tongue B by screws 25 while the railC is secured to the tongue B by screws 26. This completes th slide assembly. The rail Cis connected to a table top section D by screws 21, see Figure 3and the rail C is secured to a table top section D by screws 23. There are two slide assemblies for the table, one being mounted on each side rail of the fixed tabl frame. Figure 3 shows only one complete slide assembly.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. One of the novel points of the invention is the fact that a greater portion of the tongues will be received in their respective channels when the table slide is open than when the table slide is closed. This can be visualized better by referring to Figure 5 where the table slide assembly is shown closed in the upper schematic sketch. Here the central tongue supporting member A has the tongues B and B extended so that their inner ends 29 and 3!] respectively, are spaced a slight distance from each other. The tongue B has its stop 2| contacting with the stop l3 while the tongue B has its stop 2| contacting with the stop IS. The lines I) and 0 indicate the extent of the distance covered by the table slide assembly when in this position.

This pre- 4 The outer ends 3| and 32 of the tongues B and B coincide with the lines b and 0 when the table slide is closed, i. e., when the table top sections D and D abut one another at the line 33, see Fig ure 3.

When now the table top sections are opened,

the tongues B and B are moved in the tongue supporting member A so that the tongue B will now appear at the right hand end of the channel, see the lower sketch of Figure 5, and the tongue B will appear at the left-hand end. In this instance the stop 20 of the tongue B has come into contact with the stop 8 while the stop 20 of the tongue B has come into contact with the stop 9. The inner ends 29 and 30 of the tongues shown in the upper sketch now become the outer ends of the tongues and it will be seen that these ends are spaced inwardly a slight distance from the lines o and c. It will further be seen that what was formerly the outer ends 3| and 32 of the tongues B and B respectively, now become the inner ends and these ends overlap each other a slight distance. The result is that there is a greater portion of the tongues B and B received in the channels when the slide is open than when the slide is closed. 7. Less support is needed for the table top sections when they are closed than when they are open because when the table top sections are closed, a greater portion of their under surface will rest on the table top frame 22. When the table top sections are open a greater portion will extend over the ends of the fixed table frame and therefore a greater portion of the tongues should be received in the tongue supporting members to hold the inner portions of the table top sections from tending to swing upwardly when weight is placed on the outer ends of the table top sections. It will be seen that I provide a device that is not only simple in construction, but I also provide a device in which a greater support is given to the tongue when in open position than when in closed position which is the very time the tongue should be so supported.

Figure 4 clearly shows, how the ribs IQ of the tongues B and B space the heads of the screws 25 and 26 from the member A so that the tongues can move freely in the channels. The ribs also space the rails C and C from the channels so that a free movement is permitted.

The extension of the tongues beyond both ends of the channels permit a greater extension of the table top sections than if the tongues could only extend beyond one end of the channel. When more of the tongue lengths are received in the channels when the table top sections are extended than when they are closed, a greater leverage is obtained that offers a greater resistance to any weight placed on the outer ends of the extended table top sections. By extending the tongues beyond both ends of the channels, a

smaller length of channel will permit the table',

top sections to be opened to a greater degree and receive additional leaves.

I claim: V

l. The combination with a fixed table frame, two table top sections resting on the frame, of an extension table slide assembly comprising a central member H-shaped in cross section and secured to the frame, said member having a pair of channels on each side, a tongue slidable in each pair of channels and being substantially the same length as the central member, two stops placed diagonallyopposite to each other at the corners on each side, each tongue having two stops placed diagonally opposite to each other and extending from the tongue ends to substantially the center, one of the tongue stops extending a short distance beyond the tongue center and the other terminating short of the center but overlapping the first tongue stop, said tongues being movable to extend beyond either end of the central member, the tongue stops coacting with the central member stops to limit the extreme nioveniens of the tongues, rails secured to the tongues and to the table top sections, said tongue stops causing a greater length of the tongues to be received in the channels when the table top sections are extended than when they are closed, whereby there will be less tendency for the sections to fulcrum on the frame when Weight is placed near the outer ends of the sections.

2. In an extension table slide assembly, a central support having channels on opposite rectangular sides and stops arranged at diagonally opposite corners of each side, and tongues slidable in the channels and having stops arranged at diagonally opposite corners and extending substantially to the middle of the tongues, the tongues being movable beyond either end of the central support and the tongue stops cooperating with the first-named stops for limiting the outward movement of the tongues.

3. In an extension table slide assembly, a central support having channels on opposite rectangular sides and stops arranged at diagonally opposite corners of each side, and tongues slidable in the channels and having stops arranged at diagonally opposite corners and extending substantially to the middle of the tongues, the tongues being movable beyond either end of the central-support and the tongue stops cooperating with the first-named stops for limiting the outward movement of the tongues, the tongue stops being so designed that the tongues will project a greater distance beyond the central support when the tongues are moved in opposite directions into one extreme position than when they are reversed in their movement and extended in opposit directions into the other extreme posi tion.

4. In an extension table slide assembly, a central support having channels on opposite rectangular sides and stops arranged at diagonally opposite corners of each side, and tongues slidable in the channels and having stops arranged at diagonally opposite corners, one tongue stop on each tongue, extending inwardly to a point beyond the tongue center and the other tongue stop terminating short of the tongue center but overlapping the inner end of the other tongue, the tongues being movable beyond either end of the central support and the tongue stops cooperating with the first-named stops for limiting the outward movement of the tongues, the longer tongue stops when contacting with their central support stops preventing the tongues from extending so far beyond the ends of the central sup port as when the shorter tongue stops contact with their central support stops.

5. In an extension table slide assembly, a central support having channels on opposite rectangular sides and stops arranged at diagonally opposite corners of each side, and tongues slidable in the channels and having stops arranged at diagonally opposite corners, one tongue stop on each tongue, extending inwardly to a point beyond the tongue center and the other tongue stop terminating short of the tongue center but overlapping the inner end of the other tongue, the tongues being movable beyond either end of the central support and the tongue stops cooperating with the first-named stops for limiting the outward movement of the tongues, the longer tongue stops when contacting with their central support stops preventing the tongues from extending so far beyond the ends of the central support as when the shorter tongue stops contact with their central support stops, said tongue stops contacting the rectangular sides and preventing lateral movement between the tongues and the channels.

RICHARD R. LOWE. 

